Howliday Inn

I really hope these books never end. My little friend, Jessica was always a reader, but this series has really got her READING! I don't think she has turned the television on since she started with the firs book. Not that I have anything against television...just saying. We've set a time that she can read to me, and I am thoroughly enjoying these cute little characters and that Jessica is asking, "Can I go ahead and read the next chapter?" You know when a book begins with a dog named Harold scratching on the door to leave a manuscript in plastic...then stays long enough to have a doughnut and hot chocolate, that you are in for a hilarious adventure. With this in mind, we begin the hair-raising and laughter filled journey of Harold and show more his cat friend, Chester, at the Chateau Bow-Wow. There's not much horror in this one, it goes straight to the "mystery". Chester and Harold both take turns at being detectives trying to figure out what happened to the missing pets. Chester makes a lot of wild accusations that were mostly all wrong, in the first book. but in this one he seems to be more on top of the game with his detective work, though he does still make a few wild accusations, claiming he knew what was going on the whole time at the end. Was Chester just saying he knew, or did he actually know? It is kind of left up to the reader to decide. Jessica has her own ideas but she's not sharing them with me yet. show less

I have a deep and abiding love for [b: Bunnicula|281235|Bunnicula (Bunnicula, #1)|James Howe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348802537s/281235.jpg|1142982] so I was delighted to learn that the book was not merely a book. No, it was a series. While I don't think I'll delve into all of the spin-off series, I definitely want to read the whole of the initial run. It was to my excitement and pleasure that I read this sequel to [b: Bunnicula|281235|Bunnicula (Bunnicula, #1)|James Howe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348802537s/281235.jpg|1142982] and found it every bit as fantastic as the first book.

[b: Howliday Inn|443658|Howliday Inn (Bunnicula, #2)|James Howe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388210958s/443658.jpg|749560] follows show more the theme of the first [b: Bunnicula|281235|Bunnicula (Bunnicula, #1)|James Howe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348802537s/281235.jpg|1142982] book in setting up a mystery that needs to be solved. Where this book succeeds and differs from the original is that it sets up a firm murder mystery and follows the classic noir set up. The murderer? He could be anyone. Everyone has motive here at Chataeu Bow-Wow, from the dog residents to the crazed cat resident to the very humans working there. And are those werewolves in the distance? By creating a firm noir set up we veer away from the supernatural and get to enjoy the complicated threads of the mystery.

This is a longer book than I expected, and a far more complex one. I was delighted reading it, and am sure younger readers would enjoy it as well. It pleases me that [a: James Howe|51424|James Howe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1243833844p2/51424.jpg] doesn't pull many punches and spices the book up with more complex vocabulary, while simultaneously defining it and pointing out when characters are using the words erroneously. This is an exciting book, and a pretty great children's mystery. A worthy successor to [b: Bunnicula|281235|Bunnicula (Bunnicula, #1)|James Howe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348802537s/281235.jpg|1142982] with plenty of laughs. show less

To build on my belief that this series should be called "The Harold and Chester Mysteries," Bunnicula doesn't even appear in this story. Instead, the Monroe's go on vacation and Harold and Chester are sent to a kennel called Chateau Bow-Bow. There, Chester immediately begins to share his suspicions of the other dogs and cats and their human caretakers. It turns out that there is something suspicious going on even if Chester's earliest assumptions were way off base, but it does lead up to a wonderful Holmes and Watson moment for Chester and Harold. Another fun book with a bit of mystery.

Howliday Inn is officially the second book in the Bunnicula series, but the rabbit of mystery doesn't appear in it at all. We're merely told in chapter one that he'll be staying with the Monroes' next-door neighbor, Professor Mickelwhite, whom readers might remember from chapter 2 of Bunnicula, where his harmless activity gave Chester the cat a strange notion. (Of course, strange notions are Chester's specialty. Spoiler alert: he'll be having more of them in this book.)

Why is the vampire(?) bunny staying with the Professor? The Monroes are going on a vacation where they can't take their pets. Chester and Harold are going to be staying at a boarding kennel for dogs and cats only. It's not really named Howliday Inn. Veterinarian Dr. show more Greenbrier's kennel is called by the cutesy name of 'Chateau Bow-Wow'. (Feel free to stick out your tongue in disgust. I just did.) One of the guests will bestow that nickname on the place. I'm sure you won't need three guesses to figure out which one.

Chester's idea of what their stay will be like is based on the works of Charles Dickens. Those of his books that I've read have been good, but they sure can have some depressing scenes in them! No wonder Chester is desperate to avoid this fate. (His efforts enliven the first chapter.) Harold may not have read Dickens, but Mr. Monroe's tone while he talks about Chateau Bow-Wow makes the big mutt suspicious.

Chateau Bow-Wow certainly doesn't rate five stars in the accommodations department. The food may not be as bad as Chester was expecting, but a cage is a cage. As for the teenaged employees, Harrison is a jerk with a most unrealistic ambition. Jill is nicer, but takes Harrison's orders.

The other dogs there are a bulldog named Max, a mutt named Taxi, two French poodles, Louise and Georgette, and wire-haired dachshunds Howard and Heather. The only other cat is Lyle, a cat so crazy he makes Chester seem reasonable -- and Chester's idea about what is making those unearthly howls in the night is NOT reasonable (outside of a horror movie or novel, that is).

There's something rotten at Chateau Bow-Wow and it's not just the weather. Can Harold and Chester solve the mysteries before it's too late?

NOTES (pop culture references, fictional and real name-dropping, character facts, and non-spoiler tips to help those who've read the book find things again):

Chapter 1:

a. The Waldorf-Astoria is a fancy hotel in New York City. You may see pictures of it here: http://gonyc.about.com/od/photogalleries/ss/waldorf_astoria.htm

b. We learn what Chester's cat carrier makes Harold think about.

c. No, Pete, do NOT grab a cat by its tail!

d. The matter of Harold eating chocolate cupcakes without being made sick will be addressed in Bunnicula Strikes Again.

e. As for the talk show Harold mentions, 'The Merv Griffin Show' was still being shown when this book was published in 1982. 'The Mike Douglas Show,' a variety show, ended that same year.

d. 'Feelings' is a 1974 song by Morris Albert (set to the tune of Louis “Loulou” Gasté's 1957 'Por Toi'). If you've never heard it, listen here and know why Chester glared: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyBcHUe4WeQ

Chapter 2:

a. Chester is exaggerating when he calls the area where Chateau Bow-Wow is situated 'No Man's Land'. Whether you use the term in its 14th century meaning or that of World War I, it's not THAT bad.

b. Chester quotes from Dante's The Divine Comedy, but this is not the gate to hell.

c. We are introduced to Harrison, Jill, and Dr. Greenbrier, in that order.

d. See the first book for why Chester is considered unusual. If he's still seeing Dr. Verrückt Katz, the cat psychiatrist, I suspect the Monroes are wasting their money.

e. We learn the euphemism for 'cage' at Chateau Bow-Wow.

f. Read here for the sayings on Harold and Chester's food bowls.

g. Louise calls Georgette 'Scarlett,' possibly for Gone With the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara, because Georgette has a Southern accent.

h. Lyle shows he's not sane.

i. Chateau Bow-Wow gets its nickname and Chester leaps to another weird conclusion.

Chapter 3:

a. Harold doesn't consider the words on new food bowl accurate.

b. There's a message at the bottom of that food bowl.

c. Harold's description of Max made me smile because quite a few colleges and universities have a bulldog for their mascot.

d. We meet Taxi, the hero-worshiping-Max mutt. He's smaller than Harold.

e. Taxi is reminded of a murder on a TV show he watched.

f. Mon ami is French for 'my friend'. That's the masculine form. The feminine form is 'mon amie'. French has more masculine and feminine versions of words than English does. For example, 'blond' is the noun for blond boys and men. 'Blonde' is the noun for blond girls and women. (Note that 'blond' is the proper adjective form for both sexes.)

g. Monsieur is French for 'Mister'. Here in the USA we use the abbreviation for the plural form, 'Messrs.,' to address more than one man at a time.

h. Mademoiselle is French for 'Miss'.

i. Merci is French for 'thank you'. (We had to study French when I was in junior high back in the late 1960s.)

j. Georgette's English is better than Louise's.

k. is French for 'is it no?t' or 'isn't it?'.

l. Lyle makes a threat.

Chapter 4:

a. Jill trips on a rock again. She really should have tied that garbage bag before carrying it.

b. We meet Howard and Heather. This won't be the only time Heather interrupts Howard when he tries to tell Harold something.

c. Chester explains why he hates it when Harold says, 'Guess what?'.

Chapter 5:

a. Lyle shouts out two of the phrases that described Superman in the introduction to the 1952-1958 TV show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2l4bz1FT8U

b. Harold's reaction to one of Chester's declarations about Howard and Heather made me smile.

Chapter 6:

a. This chapter title is a pun on the title of a 1956 Alfred Hitchcock film.

b. Good thing Chester is ready to explain away something embarrassing that he and Harold did.

Chapter 10:

a. Our heroes make a discovery in an unused rainpipe.

b. Louise sounds like a soap opera.

Chapter 11:

a. Chester sneers at Howard's gift.

b. We learn about two incidents in Harold's file.

Chapter 12:

a. Alors is an expression similar to our 'so' and 'well'.

b. Loved Harold's excuse for not joining in a doggie game.

c. We learn a few things that happened to the Monroes during their vacation.

d. We are introduced to a new member of the regular supporting cast.

Aside from not having Bunnicula in it at all, this is a fun sequel, with plenty to offer dog and cat lovers.
Lynn Munsinger's illustrations aren't as funny as Alan Daniel's in the first book, but they're good. show less

Howliday Inn features Chester and Harold, the cat and author--dog--of Bunnicula. This time, instead of being introduced to a theoretically vampiric pet bunny, the boys are off to Chateau Bow-Wow while the family goes on a vacation. Once as comfortable as can be expected in their bungalows [which look remarkably similar to cages], they are introduced to the eclectic collection of other animals staying with them. With suspicious howlings in the night and a dog that goes missing after some compound drama, Chester's mind is alive with possibilities and detective impulses. The boys must figure out the goings on [going ons?] of the dubiously titled Chateau Bow-Wow before something terrible befalls one of the guests--or themselves.

I honestly show more don't have too much to say here. Howe is a rather delightful author, or as he would have us believe, Harold is, and the books are great fun to read. From Harold's no-nonsense doggie ways to Chesters insane imagination and feline indignance, the characters are charming and the antics hilarious. I'm sure I'll be reading the other three Howe books because they only take a sitting, and after an eight-hour day of making sure manic mothers manage to make Mayan mystics properly [clay, popcicle sticks and paint all on a lovely foam-core base or shoebox], something as light and perpetually enjoyable is called for. Truly. show less

Looks like Harold, the dog, and Chester,the cat, are going to spend the week at Chateau Bow-Wow while their human family are off on vacation. Not what they were expecting! Nor were they expecting the adventure they had!

Arriving at Chateau Bow-Wow, Harold and Chester meet their fellow borders: Louise - a French poodle, Max - a turtle-neck wearing bulldog, Georgette - a dog (these three are part of a triangle...maybe), Taxi - a mutt of a dog, Lyle - a wacky cat, and Howard and Heather - a pair of dachshunds. There are also the humans that are there to take care of the critters; Harrison and Jill.

The weather is stormy and rainy, complete with thunder and lightning; perfect backdrop for what happens! There is also that eerie howling that is show more heard and is later found to be Howard and Heather. Why the howling?

It seems that the next morning Louise is missing! Rumours go around that she has run off, or poisoned, or.... Then Chester is missing! Harold is pretty sure he hasn't run off, but was he poisoned? The animals decide they must find their missing friends.

There is a lot of humour in this and it is good fun kid stuff. There are also illustrations to go with the story. show less

I really,really like this book. This is my second time reading it. I read it a long time ago, but had forgotten what had happend. So I re read it. If you like mysteries you definately need to read this book. It's NOT one of those mysteries were you know right away what happens. There are different twists and turns. I love the characters. Especially Harold. They are all funny, I can't wait to read more of this series. =)